Angry Boys

Australian comedian/writer/producer Chris Lilley plays half a dozen roles in this mockumentary-style comedy miniseries—a co-production between Australian TV and HBO in the U.S.—featuring stories that straddle the two countries. His Down Under characters include teenage twins Daniel and Nathan Sims; the Sims' grandmother, aka Officer Ruth Sims of the Juvenile Justice Center for Boys; and former surfing champ Blake Oakfield. Stateside, Lilley dons modern blackface to portray rapper S.mouse, a middle-class kid playing at urban toughness; and he adopts an Asian accent as Jen Okazaki, the manipulative mother of skateboard phenomenon Tim (Jordan Dang), promoting her heterosexual son as a gay icon. While the Aussie characters are grounded in a sense of personal identity, conveyed through the fraternal insults and pranks of the Sims brothers, the more outsized parodies embodied in S.mouse and Jen Okazaki devolve into broad stereotypes. This series may be of interest to fans of Lilley's previous Summer Heights High, but it won't be missed by most others. Presenting all 12 episodes from 2011, extras include deleted scenes, bloopers, and mock music videos. Not recommended. (S. Axmaker)